Scattering the Ace of Hearts
by Freefan1412
Summary: Kaitou KID. International Criminal 1412. Kuroba Kaito. Moonlight Magician. Lupin of the 21st Century. Call him what you will. Truth is, no matter how many masks are at hand, there is only one person who can, and does, wear them. The problem starts there... Drabbles.
1. Newspaper

Newspapers were interesting things.

Proclaiming to write objectively and claiming to report only the truth, snaps of fiction always drifted into them.

Kaito would appreciate the liberties taken a lot more if fiction were not far too dangerous.

He was far too good to to let the truth be captured for ink on paper, but if it was fiction, there was nothing he do to prevent it from being printed.

Not that he didn't love imagination; as a magician imagination was half his life, but the problem was that even if there were no facts, fiction had the potential to hit close to the truth.

Truth equaled danger.

International Criminal 1412 scowled at the headline.

EXPERTS THEORIZE! KID'S 8-YEAR LONG BREAK


	2. Moonlight

Moonlight.

For all that it appeared to be nothing but the counterpart to daytime, it was the irremovable key of Kaitou KID's magic.

Were it not for the silverly gleam of light creating depth, there would be no shadow to use for deception, no soft glow to utilize, replicate and disappear in.

But most of all, it is only thanks to the illuminating Lady Goddess that a gentleman thief has someone to ask about the state of his quest.


	3. Illusion

The criminal of the night brought the chase to a stop. Not out of necessity, but to prove the simple fact that he c _ould_.

In gallant mockery, he turned to look down on the men sworn to jail him, responding to a previously (asked, shouted, cussed) mentioned statement. "Age, my dear Nakamori-kebu, is a tool to pick up and discard at convenience."

The half moon stood high behind his back, the whiteness of his his suit glowing. The top hat, was hiding everything but the gleaming teeth of a wide smile. "Time has no hold over a phantom."

International Criminal 1412 disappeared before the taskforce's practised eyes without so much as a breath of smoke.


	4. Gamble

It all depended on someone outside Kaito's control. Someone outside of what he could influence. Even before KID, those people or situations had been far in-between.

If she rejected him, pushed him away, denied him, drew a line, hated him, if she wanted nothing to do with him anymore, then the identity of the thief would swallow Kaito.

Kaito loved his job, no two ways about it; the moonlit skyline, the thrill of the hunt, matching wits with others, the careful dancing on thin lines. It made him feel alive and gleeful in a way that his life as Kaito could not bring.

It would be perfect, he thought sometimes, if the uniform he wore was not the remains of a dead person.

(If his father had never died.)

If he did not have to doge bullets of Kid-tailored assassins.

Kaito had fallen gleefully into the life of a criminal with an interesting record and even if he didn't have that mission attached to him, revenge to seek, he'd have loved growing into a phantom thief.

He loved it so much, in fact, that it was dangerous. It would be so easy, getting lost in it. So easy to set KID as his main persona, his priority. As easy as breathing, as easy as drowning.

Yet he knew he shouldn't allow himself, mustn't think of life like that, because for every time he imagined, it felt empty.

Like a phantom, like a ghost, like a disappearing magician.

Like he didn't really exist. And maybe it was no wonder, with the many identities KID had, the many masks.

In a way, Aoko was his anchor, his tie to life and reality, to who he was.

It was part of the terror he felt, dreading the day she found out.

The day Aoko decided to cut all ties, to no longer be in Kaito's life, no matter the form, Kaito Kuroba would be lost. Everyone else walked in both of his lives, and for that they could not hold him. Mom, Jii. The Inspector.

When the day came, (for it would, eventually, because the hunt for a jewel that does not exist cannot end) what was going to happen?

Aoko Nakamori held the life of Kuroba Kaito in her hands and he had no intention of informing her of it.

The city stretched out beneath him, lit, the moon glowing and sirens howling, like watchdogs.

"What is the blue child going to choose?" The phantom thief mused, absently, as he let his weight tilt forward to the long, long fall.


	5. Split

Kaito Kuroba was a student with slightly above average intelligence and far above average lack of respect for authority and he had a good heart. It was known that he was wildly harmless, never hurting anyone so long as he didn't need them to substitute for him in his flight from his childhood friend's wrath. The general impression was that he could neither be serious nor lie overly convincingly.

From this character, the persona of KID was created. KID had his absolute rule of no-one-get-hurt, but hurt was a term defined by his moral- and lawless self, employed and set to serve his convenience. Lies and deception flowed off his from and seriousness was a layer of it (as well as his laughter). Phantom Thief KID's brilliance outmatched anyone but the handful of sharpest minds in the country and it is his own laws that he follows.

Kaito Kuroba was a harmless class clown.

Kaitou KID's halfmoon grin was ever present.

Kaito Kuroba was upfront with his emotions.

They were the same person.

One created, one not, but somewhere they had to blend and mix.


	6. Ink on Paper

Ink on paper is easy. It has chemical and molecular structures, easily analysed and written out. Easily understood in depth, leaving no questions or mysteries.

How is it possible that very little of both materials can leave behind incomprehensible mayhem?

A harmless signature, not printed.

Always only ink on paper, both as old as age, yet understanding is a suggestion of far.

A contradiction of art, incorporated in the simplest forms.


	7. Kaleidoscope

Madness. Insanity. Lack of common sense. Craziness. All can doubtlessly applied to Phantom KID. Illogical, unpredictable, random.

Statistically speaking such is the way to characterize him.

With a trained, practised and observant eye, the experienced one can see a complex and elaborate method.

Mysterious but foolish he might seem, it is nothing what he truly is.

The phantom thief plays with perception, expectations and norms, using them to his cause. They are no exception to his magic.


End file.
